Tales of Romance
by Krannx
Summary: As the world is slowly enslaved by the group known only as "Desians", the people lay their fate squarely on the small shoulders of the Chosen of Mana.   An in depth novelization of Tales of Symphonia


A/N So welcome one and all to the first chapter of Tales of Romance, my half novelization, half fan-service fanfiction. The main reason for me deciding to create such an incredulous hybrid is the fact that I have an urge to write a fanfiction explaining what happens outside of the main storyline when the characters are together, and examining that in more depth, especially the relationships between each person. The second reason is that the majority of my friends have not, and likely will not ever play Tales of Symphonia, and as such I am writing enough characterization and explanation in that even TOS noobs can enjoy it! YAY! Haha, Enjoy xD

Disclaimer: I do not own Tales of Symphonia or Namco or my body for that matter... Aperture Science still owns that... haha xD

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Once upon a time, there existed a giant tree that was the source of all mana. A war, however, caused this tree to wither away, and a hero's life was sacrificed in order to take its place. Grieving over the loss, the goddess disappeared unto the heavens – leaving the angels with this edict: "You must wake me, for if I should sleep, the world shall be destroyed." The angels bore the Chosen One, who headed towards the tower that reached up unto the heavens. And that marked the beginning of the regeneration of the world.

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"Lloyd! Lloyd Irving wake up!" an irritated female voice rang out through the class room, unfortunately having no effect on its intended target; the red-clad student in the back of the room. He was standing, slumped over due to his combination of holding a bucket of water in each hand and being asleep, taking no notice of the teachers reprimands.

As the class's snickering grew at the teachers seeming inability to wake her student, she realized she needed to act. She couldn't lose the respect of her students and control of the room over the kid who does worst in the class. Deciding to sacrifice one of her chalkboard erasers instead of one of her precious books, Lloyd woke up to the impact of a high-speed eraser and coughed on the plume of dust that followed. As the heavy sleeper woke his sight settled on the source of his coughing: Raine Sage, the teacher.

Tall, with short silver hair that spiked out in all directions when not flowing to her shoulders, and sharp eyes - the smooth skin suggesting that the women is in the early 20's. Her silver hair betraying the elfish blood running through her veins. She wore tall white boots and an orange cloak that obscured most of her features. A white undershirt and black pants covering the rest of her body: the modest teacher exposing no skin save her face. "Lloyd do you… never mind. Let's have someone else answer the question. Genis, how about you?"

"Yes, Raine" the short elf stands in his seat, the family resemblance showing through instantly. He matched his sisters' cloak and hair-style in every way with few exceptions. Namely; a blue cloak instead of orange, shorts instead of pants, and the simple fact that the boy was almost a foot and a half shorter than her. "Mithos, the hero, brought about the end of the Ancient War in the Holy Ground of Kharlan."

Beaming with pride for her brilliant younger brother the professor smiled, "Correct. Afterwards, Mithos, the hero, formed a pact with the Goddess Martel to seal away the Desians whom caused the war."

"But the Desians came back and are now causing everyone to suffer!" The students' eyes looked to the back of the room to see that the brown haired boy had put down his water buckets and made a fist in his anger at the realization. Wanting to continue but being quickly interrupted by the miraculously in unison class-groan "We covered that in class last time!"

"Yes, when the Seal weakens the Desians reappear. Just like they have now. Luckily, today is the Day of Prophecy. It is a very important day, on which the Chosen of Mana will receive an oracle from the Goddess Martel. Now, Chosen One… Colette… Tell us about the journey of regeneration," Raine interjects, quickly reclaiming the reigns of her class.

In the middle of the room a petite blonde with wide blue eyes stood up, "Yes ma'am. It is a journey to seal the Desians. Upon passing the trials of Martel, the Summon Spirits that protect the world awaken, and the mana is restored." her white cloak swishing as she turned to look at Lloyd, her oldest friend, before sitting back down.

"I suppose we should expect the Chosen herself to know the answer to that one. Mana depletion is the cause of the current food shortages and droughts. It is said that this occurs because the Desians consume vast amounts of mana in their human ranches. The Chosen's journey has two purposes – to revive mana as well as to defeat the Desians. Now, the only known record of…" the teacher stopped, feeling an intense concentration of mana building. Sensing mana was one of the few benefits of being an elf in this human-centric society, and her sudden pause caused the students to follow her gaze out the window. Outside was just the playground and the woods seeing as the wooden –schoolhouse lied on the edge of town, and the students faces showed that they had quickly realized that. With nothing to see the students turned back to the teacher: whose face had turned even more pale than normal. Raine was getting terrified at this point, the mana was not gathering in that direction; it seemed to actually be appearing there from thin air. _"If only I could get a chance to study this phenomenon" _she thought before it happened.

A beam of light shot straight up through the sky, reaching the top of the window in less than a second. The glow was bright enough to light up the school room and cast shadows on the inside walls from several miles away. The mystical light source stayed put, though it did seem to undulate slightly as it suspended in its' motion. A second light beam had also come up above the tree-line; this one however took almost 10 seconds to reach the top of the window. Instead of flying vertically, this light spiraled its way around the original, accelerating as it went to the sound of the steadily increasing raucous in the room.

"Settle down!" Raine yelled as she quickly made the connection; it was obvious enough with all the talk about the Chosen, her journey, and the oracle she was to receive. That flash of light, now gone, must have been from the local temple, signaling that it was to start soon. The class however was turning riotous at the alarming set of events. "It would seem that the time for the oracle has come. I will go and check on the chapel. Everyone, stay here and study on your own." Raine quickly eyed the class, namely the easily-excited Lloyd, before asking "Understand" in her scariest tone: a quiet but stern voice. Striding towards the door she grabbed her staff before walking out. This was a truly urgent matter, she had to ensure the safety of the Chosen, it was her job after all

"Professor! I'll go with you!" the blonde girl interjects. Her bright blue eyes seemingly piercing into the teachers' soul. Colettes' innocence shining through the question, she earnestly just wanted to help. "_I can see why she is the Chosen_" the silver haired teacher thought before stopping the girl: "No Colette. If it is the oracle, the priests will come here for you. Wait here with everyone else."

"Yes, ma'am" the Chosen responded, without losing her smile. Looking to see the reassuring glances she was getting from Genis and Lloyd, her two best friends, before sitting back down. "_I'm not sure what I'll do without them… I hope I can make the world a better place for them…"_ Colette couldn't help but think as she watches the teacher leave the scene.

Oddly enough, after the teacher left the room all 15 students behaved and did as they were told for almost 5 minutes; a new record for the class. Everyone sat and studied quietly until Lloyd broke the silence and spoke to Genis. "Isn't anyone curious about the temple? I mean, I've always wanted to find out what really happens to Colette when she receives the oracle. They always talk about the Chosen of Regeneration and the Day of Prophecy, but no one tells us what really happens…" only to have his speech cut off by the short-to-temper elf.

"Don't tell me you're sneaking out! Raine will get mad!" the boys fear of his sister obvious in his tone.

"It's research" the red clad-swordsman replied as he buckled his wooden swords to his belt.

"That's just an excuse! And my sister said to stay and study by ourselves!" Genis yelled, his fear turning into anger.

"So? An excuse is an excuse, right? Don't be so stuffy. You're coming too, right? We're best friends, after all!" setting his eyes on Colette, Lloyd asked, "Colette, want to come along, too?"

"…Huh? Um, okay." getting up from her seat, the blonde-haired maiden walked past a hole in the wall that was shaped oddly like her on her way to talk to Lloyd and Genis. She remembered tripping on a book and leaving that piece of property damage, "_I really am a klutz"_ she thought. "So where to?" she asked, looking up at the swordsman.

"Where else? That light! You're directly involved in all of this. Aren't you curious?" Lloyds' eyes seemed to light up as he thought of the adventure this could become.

"Hmm…Are you curious about it?" the Chosen asked endearingly.

"Of course!" a slightly stupid-look crossed Lloyds' face as his grin grew.

"Okay, then I'll be curious about it, too." the blonde girl giggled slightly, though she wasn't entirely sure why.

"See Genis? Dwarven Vow Number 4: Don't depend on others. Walk on your own two legs. Okay then! Let's go to the temple!" Lloyd nearly yelled startling the other students in the room.

"Not the Dwarven Vows again. You always use those when you need an excuse…" the short mage complained as he picked up his pack and his kendema: an extremely short staff with a spike on one end, and a ball on a string attached to the other. He looked up to see that both of the others were ready. Lloyd had his swords belted and his, as well as Colettes', packs on his back. Colette also had her weapon of choice equipped, a pair of chackrams: bladed disks with the center removed so the owner can hold and catch it on the return flight. They function much like very powerful, and sharp, boomerangs.

On their way out the group instructed the rest of the class to follow the teachers' orders, and to insure no more students repeated the stupidity Genis felt was occurring, he locked the doors as he turned left to exit the building…Right into Colettes' dad: Frank, who, it seemed had already been in a conversation with Lloyd and Colette.

"Oh, hello there Genis. Thank the Goddess you're safe too. I was just explaining to Colette and Lloyd here that everyone in the village had gone into hiding. You see, the Desians invaded the village just a short while ago. Thankfully, no one was hurt. They passed through the village and headed for the temple."

Frank's simple farmer clothes certainly matched his accent, though not his syntax. The small elfish boy found it odd but decided it was irrelevant, "Why? Iselia has a non-aggression treaty with the Desians!"

"You mean that agreement where they don't attack the village as long as we leave the human ranch alone?" Lloyds' body was nearly shaking with anger as he spoke.

"Yes… Grandmother said it's to protect me... Oh! Where's Grandmother?" Colettes' small, scared, but strong voice chimed in.

"Phaidra is in the temple preparing for the ritual." Frank stated simply.

"Phaidra's in the temple? But that's where the Desians…" Trailing off, Lloyds' head began to droop.

"The priests are with her. There's no need to worry. Now, Colette…" Frank was interrupted as the cheery-Chosen finished his statement. "I know. I promise to fulfill my duty as the Chosen."

"And me and Genis will help protect her! I'm worried about letting her go by herself!" Lloyd stated matter-of-factly. A huge grin crossing the swordsman's' face as he put his arm around Genis and made two thumbs-ups; though this hardly belayed Franks' fears.

"Good luck, Colette. Thank you, you two. I'll wait at the house. Come back immediately if anything happens." with this word of caution Frank knew he could help no-more. All was now at the hands of the Goddess to decide; as such he quickly turned and walked away. Not wanting to give himself a chance to change his mind, Frank left.

The group shrugged; still excited to see what the oracle _is_ exactly when they reach the temple-they walked out of town and in that direction. The temple is located only a few miles to the North of the town on a skinny strip of land trapped between cliffs on one side and the ocean on the other. It got so narrow that at times the group could actually see both sides without turning their heads. With their incredible range of vision they realized something strange: there were two monsters coming their way.

"Whoa, there's monsters over here? Two of them!" Lloyd exclaims, squinting his eyes to try and identify every detail of the monsters before they reached the group. They were just two skeleton warriors: deadly if allowed to grow up, but few ever reached adulthood. These two were just children, only 5 feet tall at best.

"I thought the northern region where the temple is located was a sanctuary! Why are there…" the elf's words trailed off as his fear got the best of him.

"It must be part of the trial. Martel's trial involves battling monsters." Colette stated matter-of-factly.

"We don't have time to talk! Let's get this thing!" yelling the last part as he runs at the monsters; Lloyd puts his hands on his swords. He dips below an axe swing, letting it travel just over his head and turns left as he draws the sword on his right hip with his left hand. Even though it is slightly shorter than the other it does its part as the pommel bashes in the skeletons' skull. Continuing with the momentum Lloyd spins around backwards as his right hand pushes down, causing the sword on his left hip to rise slightly. As the now raised sword made contact with the monster a vertebrae popped out, it was now paralyzed, time for the kill. Finishing his rotation the swordsman let the faux blade of the free wooden sword slice through the neck of his weakened opponent. Lloyd watched as the skeleton dropped to the ground, only to realize there was another enemy; who, to Lloyd's horror, had nearly found his axe asylum in the red-clad boys' chest cavity.

Luckily Lloyd was not the only one in this fight, as the many nicks and broken bones already on the other attacker reveal. Colette standing almost a dozen feet away was sending a constant barrage of chackrams blades to the monster. Finally, the rings made solid contact with the skeleton warrior's arm, cutting it in half before it could finish the swing which would end Lloyd. "Now!" the Chosen yells after seeing Lloyd jump away from the enemies, clearing out of the way as she catches her disks on their return.

Genis had been hiding behind Colette as she attacked while he said his incantation. The spell had been building long enough now; it was time to end this. As he bounced his kendema, focusing on the mana around him, magical runes glowed on the ground; encircling the small boy as he spoke. The pattern around his feet soon appeared under the bodies of both the fallen and the injured monsters. Feeling the mana concentrated in his kendema peek Genis yells "Fireball!" As he watches small, concentrated, balls of fire shoot at both enemies; incinerating both on the spot.

Calmly putting away their weapons the group continues walking, knowing it is unwise to remain in an area with slain monsters, as it only attracts more. "That was easy!" the young swordsman states happily!

"Lloyd, you're amazing!" the Chosen chirps, using this excuse to check out her swordsman's body.

"Ah, well… I owe it to this thing, though." Lloyd looks down at his left hand as he pulls aside the cloth wrapping to reveal the shiny gem sticking out of the back of his glove. Surrounding the jewel is an intricately carved piece of metal.

"That's right, the Exsphere." Genis adds as he tilts his head to also look at the object.

"Yeah. It's designed for combat and brings out my maximum strength. Without this thing, I'd be nothing…" Lloyd lets his voice trail off as he rewrapped his hand.

"But you're still strong, Lloyd!" Colette says with a smile, always eager to cheer up those around her.

"Regardless, we have to be careful." the short mage advises as he looks around uneasily.

Using the narrowness of the pass to their advantage the group was able to spot and avoid most monsters on the rest of the way to the Temple. Occasionally Genis and Colette would take out a monster at a distance when a fight was unavoidable. But no one as strong as the first set of monsters got close to the group. As they got closer to the temple they realized that the light had in fact not gone away, merely dimmed; as it was still visible once they were near.

"Wow, the Martel Temple. That light really is coming from it!" Lloyd grins at the excitement in the air.

"'Then an oracle is going to be conveyed. Colette's going to be the Chosen of Regeneration.'" Quoting his sister, Genis re-explained what he was sure Lloyd missed in school.

"It's really, really bright!" Colette squeaked as she watched the twirling light leave the temple: oblivious to the conversation the other two were having.

"Say Colette" Lloyd tries to get her attention, waiting to meet her eyes before continuing, "…when the oracle is conveyed, you'll become the Chosen who will save the world, right? You're going to be like the hero, Mithos! So maybe you should act a little more…you know….Chosen-like…" Cringing at the completion of his statement, hoping he didn't offend the young lady.

"Sorry, yeah! No problem! No problem!" Colette apologizes, no real reason needed. Giggling slightly at the fact that she wasn't exactly sure what a Chosen was supposed to act like.

"Hey, you two, there's a lot of commotion at the temple!" Genis interjects suddenly.

"…You're right!" Lloyds' voice had been hesitant and meek thanks to the realization that there was someone limping toward them. It was a man in purple-clerical robes and a tall hat; the pastor. Colette immediately breaks into a run to help him, the others following in her wake.

"…Chosen…One…" the pastor mumbles as he falls to the floor, his robes and beard absorbing the copious amount of blood pouring from his body.

"Pastor?" Colette calls out as she reaches him, immediately rolling him over to keep him from drowning in his puddle of blood. "Are you alright?"

"…" the holy-mans' words were muted by the blood in his throat. Coughing as much of it up as he could, he starts again "The Desians broke the non-aggression treaty and attacked the temple… Chosen One…quickly…the oracle…..Please….be careful…I regret…not…able to… pro…tect... the… sen…" releasing his last breath, the man was no more.

"Pastor, hang on!" Colette and Genis cry out in unison. The events transpired leaving them with only their stares of disbelief.

"It's no good. He's…gone." knowing there was nothing more he could do Lloyd closed the poor man's' eyes and covered the body with a blanket from his pack. By the time this was done Genis had mostly calmed down. So Lloyd pulled Colette into an embrace, promising to keep her safe.

When she was ready to speak again, comforted by Lloyds chest she found the strength to state "…I'm going" before breaking free and walking towards the Temple "I'm the Chosen. My job is to accept the oracle on the Day of Prophecy. The two of you wait here, okay?" She finished with a smile, as if to alleviate their fears.

"Lloyd, are you going to let Colette go by herself? There are Desians in there!" The blue-clad elf yelled.

"I'm going too!" Lloyd interjects, making sure he was heard by the Chosen.

"Are you sure? It's dangerous." Colette mumbles off, her concern for others still getting in the way.

"Dwarven vow #1: Let's all work together for a peaceful world. Let's go!" Lloyd smiled; he knew there was a reason he had to learn all of the vows.

"Wait, I'm going too! I'm worried about Raine!" the short boy yelled as he jogged to catch up with the other two.

"Thanks both of you…" the Chosen finished before beginning the walk up the staircase to the Martel Temple; a journey that takes the group up at least five-hundred feet above the regular ground level. The temple itself is on an outcropping in the cliff, nice firm ground for maybe a good stones' throw in all directions. Once they could see the temple they realize that it was made of old stones and melted into the rock around it, as if it was half built by man and half by nature as it becomes one with the cliff. The building was thousands of years old according to legend, and it looked it, the old stone heavily weathered, every available inch covered in vines and ivy. The group finally stopped when they reached the plateau the temple rests upon when they heard a voice at the door to the temple.

"Where is the Chosen?" the Desian on the right growls. The Desians looked human with the exception of the brightly colored hair, which was not visible in a low-ranking Desian anyways. There were two foot-soldiers dressed in their traditional red and black suits of armor, with their steel helmets covering their face and swords drawn pointed at an old woman who had been backed against a door. The character who stood most out of place appeared to be the commanding officer; with black hair and a white tunic he stood overseeing the operation.

The woman, upon seeing the group instinctively yells out "Run Colette!" Which she found had only hurt her cause when the soldiers turned around to see Colette, Genis, and Lloyd standing there.

"Lord Botta! There she is!" the two henchmen yelled before surrounding the group; each soldier brandishing a sword in an attempt to scare the three visitors into submission without a fight.

"Chosen One, your life is mine!" Lord Botta howls menacingly at the blonde girl before letting a slight cackle escape his lips.

Drawing his swords and assuming a guard Lloyd returns "I won't let you Desians get away with anything!"

"Desians? …Hahaha!" the soldier on the left comments, before sending his friend a look that signaled he could finish the statement.

"Well then, die at the hands of the Desians you so hate. Get them!" the second soldier yells before charging Lloyd with his sword straight out, as if to impale him.

Stepping out of the way of the clumsy swordsman, Lloyd smacks the enemies blade down with his own, getting the other mans' sword stuck in the dirt. Before the soldier knew what was happening, a swift movement brought Lloyds' right hand to his face, punching him the cross guard on the sword. Dazed the man staggered back.

Colette handled the other man similarly, quickly trapping his sword inside one chackram, while she sliced the back of his hand with the other; causing him to drop his weapon. Genis had just finished his incantation and let a Fireball fly in the direction of Colettes' attacker, charring him to a crisp. Watching as the intricate magic circle around the fallen enemy faded and seeing no movement they turned their attentions to Lloyds' side of the fight. Only to see that the man Lloyd had been fighting had lost his sword, but somehow gotten hold of a flail.

Having never seen such a weapon in use, Lloyd was at a serious disadvantage and had sustained injuries. Losing strength quickly, the red swordsman dropped to a knee, using one sword to stabilize himself and the other to block what he could. He was no match though, and his friends were too late. The final blow was coming right at his head at an alarming speed. Until it stopped, inches from Lloyds face. A blade had fallen right in the trajectory of the weighted ball and killed its' momentum. Looking up Lloyd saw who had saved him: a tall pale man with long-spiky red hair, wearing a purple cloak and wielding a hand-and-a-half sword.

"Get out of the way" he coolly stated before deftly removing his sword from the ground, and using the fact that flails are useless once stopped to his advantage, the man ran in. Removing his sword from the ground he held up the blade with his arms straight and parallel to the ground as he charged the enemy. Slipping past him on the left, the mysterious-red haired man stops maybe a foot behind him. Not bothering to watch as the man behind him fell into two pieces in a heap on the ground.

"I never thought you'd show up. Damn… Retreat for now!" Lord Botta yelled at the remaining soldiers occupying other areas near the temple. With him at point, the subordinates quickly disappeared from the scene.

After a quick incantation on the part of the mysterious man, runes appeared around Lloyd before he glowed white and most of his cuts and bruises healed themselves. The man put away his sword before saying prayers for each of the fallen enemies.

"Amazing!..." the Chosen's' eyes shown as she examined the new man.

"This guy is incredibly strong" Genis commented, also in awe of their mysterious savior.

"…Yeah…I suppose so…" Lloyd mumbled in the background, his wounds healed he was now standing behind Genis and Colette.

"…Is everyone all right? Hmm…no one seems to be hurt." the man commented, his face remaining as expressionless as when they first saw him. As he checked himself for all of his possessions his left hand twinkled, the side of a small jewel catching the light.

"Is that an Exsphere?" Lloyd asks, surprised to see another person with one, he had never seen another equipped. His question, however, went unheeded. At the same time as his question, the old woman had been explaining to everyone else that she is in fact Colettes' grandmother Phaidra.

"How can I ever thank you for saving the Chosen?" Phaidra asked the mysterious man, her voice hinting at working out a payment of sorts.

"I see. So this girl is the next Chosen." the man said, his stoic gaze analyzing the situation.

"That's right! I have to go accept the oracle! Grandmother, I'm going to undergo the trial now." Colette gingerly sang; the innocence in her shining through in the determination of her words. She started to walk towards the temple, eager to get underway.

"What trial?" Lloyd interrupted, his lack of attention during school continuing to reveal itself.

"The monsters, I assume. An evil presence radiates from inside this chapel." the man stated matter-of-factly.

"Yes, that is correct. The Chosen is to receive judgment from heaven. But the priests that were to accompany her fell at the hands of the Desians." Phaidra added, as if this was a daily procedure.

"Then I'll take on the job of protecting Colette!" the red-clad swordsman shouted out, hoping to show that one way or another he would join her in the temple.

"Lloyd? I would be uneasy with just you to help her…" Phaidra trailed off, shifting her gaze to the purple-cloaked man. Hoping to imply to the man that she would like to hire him.

"Your name is Lloyd?" the man asks, for the first time a hint of emotion can be felt in his voice, shock maybe?

"Yeah, but who are you to ask for my name?" the smart ass comment left Lloyd with his infamous stupid-grin on his face, as if he was proud to say such a line.

"A mercenary. As long as you can pay me, I'll accept the job of guarding the Chosen." was the man's simple reply before finishing with, "As for my name…it is Kratos."

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A/N So yes, you all know the drill, read and review xD there will be cookies for those lovely reviewers 3 also hugs, and cake. Though, failure to review will result in an unsatisfactory mark...followed by death... haha 3 Also, for those of you that may have noticed, yes I did use the game to direct the dialogue. This isn't laziness on my part; this is my efforts to keep the storyline in perfect condition. I will deviate severely from the script once I have the characters on their own, this beginning however is far too critical to the story to miss any foreshadowing. From here on out, only major events will stick to the script. n_n Anyways, yay! One down, I will try to have the next up in a week, if I have lots of nice reviewers at least! :P


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